Rules, huh, yeah...What are they good for?: Introduction

Absolutely nothing?  Probably not.

Rules are an interesting conundrum.  We have them in life, sometimes for safety, others times to prevent people overstepping their bounds and treading in someone else’s world.  We have them in games we play as well.  Things are a bit different in the games though.  In games rules are generally set up to promote fairness among the players.  This is an artificial equilibrium brought about by the game itself.  This even playing field isn't found in much the world beyond the game.  It's almost as if we manufacture the equality in the game as a form of relief from the imbalances of the world.  A shield or respite from the rest of our lives if you will.

Game rules can be simple or they can be extremely complex.  They can be as unassuming as “No peeking while you are counting” in hide and go seek.  They can be so complicated or contentious that they require one or more appointed neutral parties to adjudicate their application and make rulings on hotly contested differences of opinion.

Since this is a Warhammer 40K blog we can all probably safely assume that I am talking about the rules in that game.  The rules in 40K fall somewhere between the two examples I have listed above.  Actually they probably fall closer to the complicated extreme.  There is the main rule-book, and then there are the individual army codexes, and on top of that there are various additional game supplements and White Dwarf articles to contend with.  Most people can’t really afford to find a neutral third party who knows all of the game rules flawlessly to watch over their games.  There are tournaments, and usually the tournament organizers are or provide judges along with a list of rulings on popularly debated rules.  Even there the judges are hotly sought after and kept running all day.  And at the end of the tournament they are probably the least liked person there by a large number of people.  Talk about a thankless job.

What about the friendly game though?  What about a few buddies getting together to play the game.  Maybe they don’t know all the main rules.  Maybe they are just starting out and don’t even know their own army very well.  I am sure we have all been there, maybe at multiple points in our gaming life.  You are just there to have fun, what do you do if there is a rules question or even a debate?

The BRB (Big Rule Book) talks quite a bit about this kind if thing.  It mentions the spirit of the game.  It talks about dicing off to resolve the dispute.  I like the concept of the spirit of the game, unfortunately the spirit seems to be the first thing to go when your favorite plastic soldier is about to get killed by that grossly overpowered weapon.  Dicing off can work in the moment but it always seems to leave a bad taste in my mouth, no matter if I win or lose the die roll.

What is the best way to handle the rule arguments that crop up from time to time?  How do we work through problems, have fun, and still remain friends at the end of a game?  These are the things I will talk about in my next few articles.